Relates to the issuance of certificates of insurance and requires the issuance of a certificate of insurance as a summary or evidence of property or casualty insurance.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
6925--A
2011-2012 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
April 6, 2011
___________
Introduced by M. of A. MORELLE, HEVESI, LUPARDO, WEPRIN, PERRY, JAFFEE
-- Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A. BRAUNSTEIN, LATIMER, THIELE -- read
once and referred to the Committee on Insurance -- recommitted to the
Committee on Insurance in accordance with Assembly Rule 3, sec. 2 --
committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and
recommitted to said committee
AN ACT to amend the insurance law, in relation to certificates of insur-
ance
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The insurance law is amended by adding a new article 5 to
2 read as follows:
3 ARTICLE 5
4 CERTIFICATES OF INSURANCE
5 Section 501. Definitions.
6 502. Prohibitions.
7 503. Applicability.
8 504. Enforcement.
9 505. Rules and regulations.
10 § 501. Definitions. For purposes of this section:
11 (a) "Certificate" or "certificate of insurance" means any document or
12 instrument, no matter how titled or described, which is prepared or
13 issued by an insurer or insurance producer as a summary or evidence of
14 property or casualty insurance coverage. "Certificate" or "certificate
15 of insurance" shall not include a policy of insurance or insurance bind-
16 er, and does not amend, extend or alter the coverage provided by the
17 policy of insurance to which the certificate makes reference, and is
18 subject to all the terms, exclusions and conditions of such policy.
19 (b) "Certificate holder" means any person, other than a policyholder,
20 that is identified on the certificate as a certificate holder.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD10419-04-2
A. 6925--A 2
1 (c) "Insurance producer" has the meaning ascribed to it by subsection
2 (k) of section two thousand one hundred one of this chapter.
3 (d) "Insurer" means any person "doing an insurance business" as such
4 phrase is defined in section one thousand one hundred one of this chap-
5 ter.
6 (e) "Person" means any individual, partnership, corporation, associ-
7 ation, or other legal entity, including any public entity as defined in
8 paragraph fifty-one of subsection (a) of section one hundred seven of
9 this chapter, any state authority as defined in subdivision one of
10 section two of the public authorities law, any local authority as
11 defined in subdivision two of section two of the public authorities law,
12 and any interstate or international authority as defined in subdivision
13 three of section two of the public authorities law.
14 (f) "Policyholder" means a person who has contracted with a property
15 or casualty insurer for insurance coverage.
16 § 502. Prohibitions. (a) No person shall prepare, issue, request, or
17 require the issuance of a certificate unless the certificate is:
18 (1) A standard certificate of insurance form promulgated and author-
19 ized for use by the Association for Cooperative Operations Research and
20 Development (ACORD) or the Insurance Services Office (ISO);
21 (2) A form promulgated by the insurance company that has underwritten
22 the policy referenced in the certificate of insurance; or
23 (3) A form prepared, issued, or requested as evidence of insurance in
24 connection with a commercial lending transaction in which the underlying
25 property serves as the primary collateral securing the borrower's repay-
26 ment of the loan, including, but not limited to a form promulgated by
27 the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA).
28 (b) No person shall alter, modify, request or require the alteration
29 of a certificate of insurance form.
30 (c) No person shall request or require that a certificate of insurance
31 form contain additional terms, conditions, or language of any kind not
32 found in the insurance policy to which the certificate makes reference
33 or to an endorsement to such policy.
34 (d) No person shall request or require either in addition to or in
35 lieu of a certificate of insurance, an opinion letter, warranty, state-
36 ment, supplemental certificate or any other document or correspondence
37 that is inconsistent with the prohibitions of this section.
38 (e) No person shall request or require that a certificate of insurance
39 contain references to a contract other than the insurance policy, or
40 warrant that the insurance policies referenced in the certificate comply
41 with the requirements of a particular contract.
42 § 503. Applicability. The provisions of this section shall apply to
43 all certificate holders, policyholders, insurers, insurance producers,
44 or any other person and to certificate of insurance forms issued as
45 evidence of insurance coverages on property, operations, or risks
46 located in this state, regardless of where the certificate holder, poli-
47 cyholder, insurer, or insurance producer is located.
48 § 504. Enforcement. The superintendent shall have the power under
49 section four hundred three of the financial services law to examine and
50 investigate the activities of any person that the superintendent reason-
51 ably believes has been or is engaged in an act or practice prohibited by
52 this article. The superintendent shall have the power to enforce the
53 provisions of this section and impose any authorized penalty or remedy
54 as provided under section four hundred eight of the financial services
55 law against any person who violates this article.
A. 6925--A 3
1 § 505. Rules and regulations. The superintendent may adopt rules or
2 regulations as he or she considers appropriate to carry out the
3 provisions of this article.
4 § 2. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall
5 have become a law.
